Diving around Boracay

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Boracay’s diving isn’t as varied or extreme as diving in Palawan or Puerto Galera, but there’s still enough to keep everyone happy. The dive sites around the island, all easily accessible by bangka, include gentle drift dives, coral gardens and some deeper dives with a good chance of encounters with sharks. At Crocodile Island, fifteen minutes southeast of Boracay, there’s a shallow reef that drops off to 25m and a number of small canyons where sea snakes gather. Big and Small Laurel are neighbouring islets with some of the best soft coral in the Visayas and shoals of snappers, sweetlips, eels, sea snakes, morays, puffers and boxfish. Probably the star attraction for divers here is Yapak, where you freefall into the big blue, eventually finding at 30m the top of a marine wall where there are batfish, wahoo, tuna, barracuda and cruising grey reef sharks. On Boracay’s northern shore are the Bat Caves, where after a swim through a cave you’ll emerge into an immense cavern inhabited by thousands of fruit bats. The smell is unforgettable. Lapu Wall is a day-trip from Boracay to the northern coast of Panay, but the diving is some of the most challenging in the area, with overhangs and caverns. Another good day-trip is north to Carabao Island, in the province of Romblon, where there are splendid reefs, some peaceful, powdery beaches and one resort if you want to stay overnight.